Tapestries and rugs, weavings with vitreous enamels incorporated into the designs – these are the works of artist and weaver, Nancy Crampton, in vibrant colors and intricate designs. For many years, Crampton has taught weaving at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Her work may be simply a beautiful pattern of colors or be a detailed painting created from yarn.
“I come from the background of a mother who has always done fiber-y types of hobbies,” Crampton says. “She sewed all of our clothes as we were growing up, she did cross-stitch and she knit, so I grew up with yarns always around me. When I was a freshman at Western [Michigan University], I took my first fiber class … that was in 1967. I saw a loom and used one for the first time, and I’ve always had a loom since.”
Crampton now spends at least three hours a day on her loom, creating colorful rugs, tapestries, and other weavings. Her ideas for a new project come from paintings, photographs, even poetry—whatever captures her imagination in a visual manner. One of her more unique methods involves incorporating enameled metals into her weaving.
“I took metals enameling classes when I was in college,” Crampton says. “When I was in graduate school at Florida State, I took enameling there and I loved it. I have been enameling copper ever since. I’ve done a lot of pieces where I have combined it with tapestry.”
Crampton also collaborates on some of her pieces with her husband, Dan, who blacksmiths iron rods and frames on which she then hangs her tapestries.
Nancy Crampton’s work will be on exhibit at The Michigan League of Handweavers 22nd Biennial Fiber Arts Exhibition, which runs through Monday, October 16th, at the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens. She is a member of Weavers Guild of Kalamazoo, Michigan League of Handweavers, and the Kalamazoo Arts Council. She offers workshops on weaving on a regular basis at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the John C. Campbell Folk School (North Carolina), and other areas in the Midwest region. Crampton’s work is also on sale at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts holiday sale.
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